Prosecutors: Inmate's water cut off for 7 days before he died of dehydration

An inquest has been ordered following the April 2016 dehydration death of Milwaukee County Jail inmate Terrill Thomas. Here's how an inquest works, and how the only other Milwaukee County inquest in the past decade ended.
Jacob Carpenter

Terrill Thomas, left, stands with his 20-year-old son, also named Terrill, at the son's high school graduation in 2014. The father died in April 2016 while in Milwaukee County Jail.(Photo: Courtesy of Thomas family)

MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee County Jail staff cut off an inmate's access to water for seven days straight before he died of dehydration, and the man was too mentally unstable to ask for help as he slowly died, prosecutors said Monday at the beginning of an inquest.

The statements from prosecutors are the first official account validating what inmates previously told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about Terrill Thomas' access to water in his cell. In prior interviews, the inmates said they begged jail staff to help Thomas as he grew weak without water.

Thomas spent nine days in jail before he died in his cell in April 2016.

Jail staff made several decisions relating to Thomas that run contrary to standard operating procedures at the jail, prosecutors said. A six-person jury seated Monday morning will hear testimony and issue a verdict on whether those decisions warrant a filing of criminal charges in the case.

Prosecutors are not required to follow the jury's verdict. They have not said who is under consideration for possible criminal charges.

Assistant District Attorney Kurt Benkley said Thomas initially was placed in the jail's special needs unit because he suffered from bipolar disorder and wasn't taking his medication. But within a day, Thomas was transferred to the administrative segregation unit, commonly known as solitary confinement, after he tore up a mattress and used it to flood his cell.

“This order to shut off Mr. (Terrill) Thomas' water was highly irregular and contrary to standard operating procedure,”

Assistant District Attorney Kurt Benkley, Milwaukee County

When Thomas arrived in solitary confinement April 17, 2016, a corrections officer went to a utility panel and turned off the water in Thomas' cell, surveillance video showed.

"This order to shut off Mr. Thomas' water was highly irregular and contrary to standard operating procedure in the jail," Benkley said.

The cutoff of water was never marked in a jail log or written on a whiteboard used to note significant events on the solitary confinement wing, Benkley said. Surveillance video also showed nobody approached the utility panel to turn Thomas' water back on.

For the next seven days, Thomas was fed Nutraloaf, a meal substitute given to disruptive inmates. Those meals did not come with water or milk, except on Sundays, the prosecutor said.

Although it likely doesn't factor into his death, prosecutors also noted that Thomas never was even once taken out of his solitary confinement cell during his seven days there. Inmates typically are given one hour of recreation time a day.

During his week in custody, Thomas repeatedly banged on his cell door and shouted incoherent statements, the result of his mental illness, prosecutors said.

"It will become apparent he was unable to tell people about his basic needs," Benkley told jurors.

Prosecutors have said the "potential crime" relevant to the inquest is abuse of a prisoner. Under Wisconsin law, neglect of a prisoner is the same as abuse.

Many corrections officers came in contact with Thomas during his time in jail, and several administrators are responsible for overseeing those corrections officers. It's unclear how prosecutors would establish what level of responsibility each jail staff member had for Thomas and whether their failure to help him crossed into a criminal act.

The inquest is expected to last five days. Prosecutors listed 90 witnesses though not all are expected to testify.

Thomas was in jail following an arrest on charges that he shot a man, drove to the Potawatomi casino in Milwaukee and fired two rounds inside the building. Thomas' children filed a federal civil suit in March against Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke and his staff, alleging that Thomas was subjected to a form of torture that caused his death in custody.